Lady Gaga, a chihuahua mix, sits with his trainer, a detainee at the Etowah County Jail, Tuesday, December 4, 2012 in Gadsden, Ala. Detainees train dogs from the animal shelter as part of their education program. (Eric Schultz / eschultz@al.com)

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee, of the Central District of California, ordered immigration courts in Arizona, California and Washington, to offer hearings for immigrants with mental disabilities who have been in custody for more than six months, the New York Times reported.

While the ruling only affects courts in those three states, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday it would require that lawyers be provided to mentally disabled immigrants representing themselves in immigration proceedings.

The 2010 lawsuit was brought on behalf of a 33-year-old Mexican man by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU said the court's ruling will provide needed protections to a vulnerable group.

"About 34,000 immigrants are detained daily, and government estimates indicate that well over 1,000 of them have mental disabilities of some kind," the ACLU said in a news release. "Prior to (Tuesday's) ruling, none of these individuals were guaranteed legal representation even though they would have great difficulty trying to represent themselves in the complicated legal proceedings against them."